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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, MAY 19: Faced with a major demand slump across the entire automobile industry, India’s largest car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) has decided to go on a five-day week for a trial period of three-weeks. The step has been initiated to cut down production in view of the major demand slump that the car industry is witnessing now, company sources said here today.
Having recorded a 55 per cent growth in sales in 1999-2000 fiscal, the industry is now faced with a major recession and Maruti despatches had dropped 31.2 per cent in April. Daewoo had recorded an 18.4 per cent decline and Hyundai sales slipped by 11.4 per cent in April as compared to March 2000. In the 1999-2000 fiscal, a total of 638,815 passenger car units were sold during the year as against 409,951 units a year earlier. MUL had achieved an all time high sales in the fiscal 1999-2000 in its 17 year history by selling over 406,290 vehicles (previous best being 353,234 units sold in 1997-98). The total sales comprised 21,447 units of exports.
The company has created another record by achieving all time high sales in the month of March 2000 by selling 44,167 units (previous best being 38,322 units sold in August 99). March sales included 3,980 units of exports. MUL sold 40,187 units in the domestic market in March 2000 as compared to 33,335 sold in March 1999.
In the domestic passenger car market, MUL achieved a growth of more than 24 per cent during the year, by selling 376,643 units as against 302,952 units sold during the corresponding period last fiscal. During this period the sale of the Maruti 800 grew by 17 per cent, that of the Omni by 41 per cent and that of the Zen by 24 per cent over the corresponding period last year.
Significantly, MUL consolidated its leadership in each segment with upgradation of the existing models and the introduction of new models. For instance, in the month of March, 2000, MUL sold 12,348 units in the ‘B’ segment (including 7,510 units of Zen and 4,838 units of the wagon R) and sold 2,095 units in the `C’ segment (including 1,398 units of Esteem, 74 units of Maruti 1000 and 623 units of the Baleno).
The Zen excelled despite fierce competition in its segment, further consolidating its leadership with sales of over 80,800 units during the fiscal. As such, in MUL sales exceeded its nearest competitor by more than 25 per cent in the `B’ segment. In the month of March 2000, the Zen achieved another high with its monthly sales totalling up to 10,073 units (including 7,510 units in domestic and 2,563 units in export markets).
